Our Data is valuable and so it’s important to ensure that we keep it safe and out of the hands of hackers and cyber criminals
The main options are to use external drives, or cloud systems.
Whichever method you choose, it is essential to observe the following:
- Plan for total loss of your data (for example, theft of a laptop which contains all of your data).
- If backing up data on an external hard drive, ensure it is in a separate place from your computer so that you don’t risk losing that too.
An advantage of online (cloud) backups is that they allow you to access data across multiple devices without having to carry a backup device around with you. However not all free cloud services provide a ‘restore’ function. Read carefully the terms and conditions of your cloud provider before you rely fully on this.
Other Advice
Do not use USB memory sticks, recordable CDs or DVDs to back up your data. Although these may appear to be inexpensive and convenient methods, they share limited capacity and are also easily lost or stolen. CDs and DVDs are also very slow to transfer your data.
- Update your Software
Cyber criminals use weaknesses and vulnerabilities in software and apps to attack your devices and steal your identity. Software and app updates are designed to fix these weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and installing them as soon as possible will keep your devices secure. Updates can also improve performance.
- Be careful about what you download
We download a lot – software updates, of music, video, games, Word documents, PDFs, photos and other files. However, this also risks exposure to viruses or spyware.
When downloading:
- Use trusted download websites to obtain programs.
- Be very careful about downloads in email attachments. Verify with the sender to make sure his or her account has not been hacked.
- Ensure you have effective and updated antivirus/antispyware software and firewall running.
- Do no download and run executable files (.exe). Clicking on these will run a program of some kind. However, they are also commonly used in viruses.
- Download music and videos only from paid sites such as iTunes, Amazon or trusted retailers’ websites. Peer-to-peer files such as Napster are not recommended.
- If you are not sure about file or website address safety then you can check this through https://www.virustotal.com/ NB, be aware that all files what you upload to virustotal.com will be stored there. So if you have sensitive or confidential files, you should find another solution for that.
Safe Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
- If you must use file-sharing software, make sure you choose safe software, install it safely and use it properly.
- Install file sharing applications only when you have effective and updated antivirus/antispyware software running.
- Download software only from manufacturers’ or authorised resellers’ websites.
